TOI: Past Forward -- Krystle

PAST FORWARD

Bollywood hits find its way to daily soaps and strike a chord with viewers

Ano Patel


Bollywood music never fails to strike a chord with the masses.As raindrops keep falling,you see a nostalgic Ram Kapoor in Bade Achche Laggte Hai looking out of his window and the rain song from Chandni,Lagi aaj saawan ki woh ghadi,plays in the background creating the required emotion.Whether it is a romantic track,shaadi or an emotional scene;retro melodies add new meaning to a scene of daily soaps.Actors and showmakers feel that the classic Bolly tunes can never lose their charm.Karan Wahi says,Adding retro songs enhances the romantic track of a show.Teri Bindiya Re (Abhimaan) played in TLMS,went completely with the character and the situation.The way it was remade giving it a hint of naughtiness accentuates the feeling of love.

The fact that these old tracks help prime time soaps grab more eyeballs is something that showmakers agree upon.Kelvin Zariwala,Associate Creative Head of Iss Pyaar says,It is all about bringing out the mood and the emotions of the actors in the show.An old hit makes a better connect with the audiences.But these songs are mainly used to bring the emotions live on screen. For certain tracks,some songs fit perfectly.Says Krystle DSouza,Old songs had beautiful lyrics,while most recent movie songs have no recall value.When we want to create colourful shaadi songs,we can only remember the old songs.Our target audience belongs to a section that has grown up on retro songs,so they can connect to them better. But it is not just the saas-bahu dramas playing retro music.Even youth shows catering are mixing old songs and reinventing them rather than using a new movie song.Danish Mansurie,Associate Creative Director of Dil Dosti Dance,says,Since it is a dance and musical show,we try a different mix of songs to which everyone can connect.DJs have made remixes out of hundreds of retro songs,which have worked well over the years.We have tried to reinvent these numbers and add some funky beats,which find an instant connect with youngsters.

No wonder then,small screens playing retro songs is proving the adage old is gold indeed!